“I couldn’t hate you, Mad. I tried. I tried so hard. But I couldn’t.” She moved her hand to the gentle swell of her belly. “After all, I had her.”
Their child. Madeline had kept Sara connected to him in ways he hadn’t imagined. The baby had been a bond that couldn’t be broken.
She was going to be such a spoiled kid. She wasn’t even born and she already had her father wrapped around her little finger. Would she ever know how important she was? How she might have saved her parents?
“I will never fail you again. I promise you, Sara.”
She shook her head. “It’s not about failing because we all make mistakes. I made one in not listening and not forgiving you sooner. It’s about doing everything together. Win or lose, Mad, we have to stand together. Always.”
“I promise.”
Mad finally did what he’d been longing to do for months, since the moment after the last time he’d done it. He kissed Sara. He wanted to kiss her constantly, needed his lips on hers, their bodies close. This was his true home, this woman.
He gave up on words and did what came naturally every time he was around Sara. He tangled himself around her and breathed her in, his flesh lighting up everywhere their bodies touched. He drew her close with a groan, feeling her nipples tighten against his chest. They were slightly larger, as were her breasts, but that wasn’t what made her beautiful. She glowed with life, health, and love. That was all he wanted, Sara safe and by his side.
While he kissed her, he touched her, relearning her body. Slowly, reverently, he skimmed his palms down her back, tracing the delicate length of her spine and molding to the curves that led to her perfectly heart-shaped ass. His heart rate ticked up as he cupped her there and rocked his erection against her. He couldn’t wait to get inside her, but that wasn’t the most important act between them tonight. The mere fact that she was in his arms felt like victory. Telling her he still loved her would be everything.
“Mad, I want you so much. I’ve missed you more than you’ll ever know.”
Not half as much as he’d missed her. Every day without Sara had felt like forever. “You know, I used to listen in on your brother’s conversations in the office just so I might hear him say your name.”
Her hands roamed his back greedily, as if she was restless for more, as if she was trying to touch every inch of his skin. “Really?”
He kissed his way from her lips to the soft column of her throat. “Yep. I suspect he’ll get me back for that and I’ll let him. In fact, I’ll probably let the guys play every trick they want on me as long as we’re still friends. We have to stick together, you know. Our kiddo is going to need playmates.”
“Gabe will forgive you,” she said. “And I don’t think Maddie is going to be alone for long. Gabe and Everly are already talking about starting a family, and I know Connor and Lara are already trying. I fear a world where Gus and Roman procreate.”
Because that child would be a force of nature, and he couldn’t wait until they were all a gang of kids tormenting their parents. If they could just survive the trial ahead, they might have the family they’d always wanted—a big group of close-knit brothers in each other’s lives, sharing everything that came their way. “We’ll parent differently. We’re not only going to stay together, we’re going to be together. I won’t send Maddie away to some boarding school.”
“Of course we won’t.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek, his lips, his shoulder, then his chest. “Touch me, Mad. It’s been so long since I felt anything but sorrow.”
He eased her down to the bed. He wasn’t sleeping on the couch tonight, and his back was grateful for that. But right now joy filled his heart and desire scorched his veins because if he got his way, he’d never have to sleep another night without Sara beside him again.
“No more sorrow,” he vowed. “Let me make you feel adored and cherished. Beloved.”
He kissed her again, starting at her mouth and working his way down. He dragged his lips across her jaw and down her throat, over the curve of her shoulders, then slowly eased to her breasts. He couldn’t stop staring at them. “Are they more sensitive? I don’t want to hurt you. I’ve read that pregnancy at this stage can make even touching them painful for some women.”
“You’ve been reading about pregnancy?” There was zero way to mistake the incredulity in her tone.
She didn’t understand how badly he’d wanted to stay connected to her in any way he could. “I bought one of those what-to-expect books. I wanted to be with you, know what you were going through. It was the only way I could share the experience with you.”
She paused, thoughtfully, then spoke in a soft voice. “They’re sensitive, but not in the way you think. Do you have any idea how hard it’s been going to bed every night knowing you were just steps away? Ever since I hit the second trimester, I’ve been aching. I need you, Mad.”
“The book said that was normal, but I’m happy to help, baby.” He cupped her breast, feeling it swell against his palm. He had to bring her pleasure first because he wasn’t at all certain he would last more than a few seconds once he got inside her.
He lowered his head and licked at her nipple, loving the way she gasped and her entire body arched tautly at the touch of his tongue. If this was what she needed, he was her man. He would fetch her whatever food she craved, rub her feet, and serve her all the tea she could drink. And he would make love to her—as long and as often as she liked.
“You’re so fucking soft. Smooth as silk.” He stroked a thumb over her nipple.
“Yeah? You’re not soft at all. Anywhere,” she murmured.
No, he was not. His cock was hard as stone and aching for her. For months, he’d fantasized about touching Sara again. The reality of her was so much better.
Mad sucked her nipple into his mouth while he cupped the other breast. A low moan escaped her throat. He lavished her breasts with affection, then inched lower because that wasn’t the only part of her he needed to taste.
He kissed his way down her body, nuzzling her belly and praising her body with his touch before shifting between her legs. He breathed in the scent of her arousal.
His heartbeat gonged loudly in his ears. Being this close to Sara after enduring so much time and distance between them thrilled and warmed him like nothing ever had. Nothing mattered except worshipping her so that she felt wanted. Desirable. Sexy. Utterly necessary to his sanity and the salvation of his soul.
More than anything, he wanted to connect with her. Be with her. Find the peace only she could give him.
“I dreamed of you the whole time I was away. You don’t know how often I would pray I’d stay asleep because you felt so vividly real in my dreams, I could swear you were right here against me.” With insistent thumbs, he parted her sex, then circled the little jewel of her clitoris, making her wriggle in his arms. “Tell me you’re mine. I still can’t believe you’re really here with me.”
“I’m yours,” she promised on a gasp as she stared down her body. Their gazes met and fused. “And you’re mine. Don’t forget it, Maddox Crawford.”
“There’s my girl. It turns me on when you get demanding. You’re always such a lady, and yet you’re so strong. You know what you want and you have the prettiest way of demanding it,” he purred against her. “I love it when you walk in a boardroom and prove wrong all those assholes who underestimated you because they think you’re nothing more than a gorgeous princess. And fuck yes, I’m yours. All yours. I’ve always been yours. I want a life with you, baby. You, me, Maddie… I want us to run Crawford together, teach o
ur daughter how to work hard, love hard, and rule her kingdom.”
“Or you could stay home with Maddie and let me handle Crawford,” she said with a curl of her lips. “I’m better at running a business than you.”
He laughed. He could do the stay-at-home dad gig if he needed to. “You handling the board room…and me handling the CEO? Maybe. We’ll see…”
He’d do his best to start showing her the life he wanted right now.
Mad lowered his mouth to her pussy and kissed her the way he’d been dying to—long, passionate, giving her as much pleasure as she could possibly take. He settled in, content for now to ignore the ache in his cock because making love to Sara was about far more than simply getting inside her. She deserved all his attention. She deserved to feel the most sublime ecstasy when he touched her, every time he touched her.
He laved her with affection, his tongue working her most sensitive spots while she writhed beneath him. He eased his fingers inside her, softly stroking her in and out, curling his fingers right where she needed his touch. She was going to be so tight and hot around his cock. He would feel every inch of her, be so connected to her. Make her scream.
Be one with her.
Sara had always been responsive, but it really didn’t take long before her breaths roughened and soft pleas fell from her lips.
He wouldn’t have it.
“Don’t hold back on me. I know what you sound like in pleasure. Baby, these walls are soundproof. Make all the noise you want.” He teased her clit, swollen with desire, by brushing a barely there thumb over the bud. He followed that with a slow stroke of his tongue.
Her body strained. Her fists clasped the sheets, pulling at them. She was the perfect picture of arousal. “I’m going to scream if you don’t give me what I need.”
“What’s that? It’s been so long… I might have forgotten,” he teased because he wanted to hear her say it. Her desire was evident, but he’d spent so many long days and nights apart from her, all of them wondering if he would ever have the chance to touch her again, that he simply needed to hear her say it.